


After the Rescue

by Melime



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alien Abduction, Established Relationship, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Rescue Missions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-22
Updated: 2016-12-22
Packaged: 2018-09-11 00:25:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8945293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melime/pseuds/Melime
Summary: Daniel and Rodney are taken hostage for the second time.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nagi_schwarz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nagi_schwarz/gifts).
  * Translation into Português brasileiro available: [Depois do Resgate](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8974531) by [Melime GreenLeaf (Melime)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melime/pseuds/Melime%20GreenLeaf)



> Thank you to my wonderful beta feygrim. This was written for the SGA Secret Santa, for nagi_schwarz, and I actually had a full adventure planned, but time made it so I had to cut to just the end.

With their team’s combined track records, it should come as no surprise that they were rescued before any real damage could be done. Daniel never had any doubt that his team was coming for him, even though he stayed there the longest, although he wouldn’t have guessed Jack would have come too, at least not in the actual rescue mission. Rodney, on the other hand, was, as usual, taken by more fatalistic expectations, believing that his team would get there, but not in time to save him. Which he said multiple times, aloud, often enough for Daniel to wish he had Teal’c’s power to stop people from talking with a glare.

Still, being kidnapped by the Asgard’s evil cousins for a second time - this time by rogue agents seeking revenge on the people who destroyed their one chance for freedom in this galaxy - wasn’t the most comfortable experience of their lives. They had each been given a week’s leave, although Daniel was sure that Jack wouldn’t let him work at least until they arrived on Earth, possibly for longer. Jack was protective like that.

The two days it took them to return to Atlantis - Sam could work miracles, but not even she could make that ship go faster after all the damage it sustained in the battle; still, she had it working well enough that it was better to take it to Atlantis for repair than waiting for rescue - were spent in the infirmary, with Jack and John spending more time there than it would be advisable, and the rest of Daniel and Rodney’s respective teams alternating shifts to keep them company. Boring, but nothing they weren’t used to. Although, of course, the lack of privacy was an inconvenience.

\---

There was nothing that Rodney hated more than being kept away from his labs, except for bedrest. A day of that would be enough to drive him up a wall, a week was unthinkable, and as such he wasn’t above using his break up with Jennifer to guilt her into allowing him the use of a computer ‘as long as he stayed away from any work’. Which of course let him with a choice of a Nintendo 64 emulator or a terabyte of series he had already watched. He was just working on unlocking the flying hat when John walked in, making Rodney forget about the game and let Mario drop to his death.

“Sorry, I… you didn’t answer so I asked Atlantis to let me in.”

Rodney raised the controller. “Distracted.”

“Right. I can go if you...”

They stared at each other in silence.

“Did you want anything?”

“Zelenka took apart the device we brought from the ship. He said it was a torture device, you didn’t say anything about that,” John said, but not in an accusatory tone.

Rodney looked down, and shrugged. “It wasn’t…” _that bad, as it sounds, used like that_ , “I’ve had worse,” he finally settled on. “They just used it in the lower settings, to keep us uncomfortable, not to hurt. It was actually really good in distracting us so we wouldn’t try to escape.”

John winced. “You could have told me.” Not _us_ , not _someone_ , _me_.

Rodney noticed that. “I didn’t know how.” A pause, then a hesitant request. “Could you stay? Just…” _until I stop being afraid, so I know they won’t take me, because I need you here_ , “for a while, this house arrest is driving me crazy.”

John smiled just slightly. “You are not under house arrest.” But he still went to the bed. “Move over.”

Rodney did so. They had sat like that multiple times before, even on John’s much smaller bed, but somehow that felt different to Rodney now. Perhaps it was because learning about Jack and Daniel’s relationship made him think about things he would rather not have thought about. Or maybe it was John’s fault, for the way he looked at Rodney when rescuing him from his cell, anger, worry, care, and something else Rodney couldn’t name, all flashing clearly through his face. Then, Rodney convinced himself he was probably imagining things, and started to browse through his catalog of illegal downloads.

“I think the only two-player game I have here is Donkey Kong, and I’m not really in the mood for it. Wanna rewatch some Trek? I’ve just got a version of The Voyage Home that has such a high definition that you can see the whales are made of cardboard,” he said, not taking his eyes of the screen

John didn’t answer. Instead, he said, “General O’Neill told me he’s been helping lobby for the DADT repeal, said they are really close now, maybe months away.” He didn’t look at Rodney, and sounded oddly flat as he said this.

Rodney wasn’t sure where this was coming from, but decided to go along. “And why does that matter? I thought you didn’t apply that barbaric thing here. I mean, Lorne isn’t exactly being discreet, he even filed for joint quarters. And I may not be up to date in lab gossip, since that’s a pure waste of time, but I’m pretty sure half my scientists are dating a soldier of the same sex, and if even I know it, you must know it too.”

John shrugged. “Rule at the SGC has been, the commanding officer looks the other way to everything that happens under him, but has to personally follow the rules. A compromise, and not a bad one at that, but one which will no longer be needed in a matter of months.”

“Good riddance. I never understood this kind of legalized discrimination could stand in the XXI century. Which got me in some trouble when I was exiled to Russia.” Rodney laughed. “Can you imagine everyone’s faces when it turns out that the US has a bi General? I almost wish I was back on Earth to see that.”

“Right.” John rubbed the back of his neck. “The thing is, what happened with you now made me realize you could have died. I mean, not that you were going to, we were always going to save you, you know that, right?” he quickly added, because he had heard Daniel complain about Rodney’s rants that they wouldn’t be saved in time. “I wasn’t, I mean, we weren’t going to just let you die out there. But it made me think you could have died before things changed.”

“And I would care because…? I’m not saying it’s not great that things are changing, but I’m not American military.”

John laughed uncomfortably. “You’re right, I don’t know what I was thinking. Anyway, how about Galaxy Quest? You can’t go wrong with a classic, and I could use a laugh.”

Rodney shrugged. “Alright.”

They had watched all the way until the big reveal when Rodney’s brain finally kicked into gear. In his defense, he was held hostage in an alien ship with no food and very little water for quite a few days, so he should probably be excused for not catching the clues sooner. Also, he had made not thinking about John that way into a habit. When it finally dawned on him, he face palmed.

“Oh. You’re an idiot, did you know that?”

“What?”

“Are you telling me the only reason that I couldn’t jump you all these years is because of some fuckers in Washington that should be more concerned about their sex scandals than other people’s sex life? Really? Have you any idea how much mental power I’ve wasted trying to suppress what I’ve thought was unrequited attraction? Who knows, maybe if I hadn’t had to do that, I would have my Nobel by now.”

John smiled fondly. Trust Rodney to turn this into a rant. “All the work you do is classified anyway. Until the existence of aliens becomes public knowledge, I don’t think you’ll be seeing your Nobel.”

“You’re not helping your case. I could have died not knowing this. And then, what would you have said to my corpse? ‘Oh, if only you have waited a few more months to die.’”

John winced, then looked down. “Well…”

Rodney tossed his laptop to the bedside table. “Right, wrong thing to say.” He climbed on top of John, grabbing his face with both hands. “No more talking now.”

John was happy to oblige.

\---

Daniel was just glad to be back home. Or rather, in Jack’s fishing cabin, which felt perhaps like his third home, ranking higher than his apartment, but lower than Jack’s house and the SGC. He wasn’t sure how Jack managed to use the transporters to get them there, or what kind of excuse he used, but Daniel was glad that they had a ship in orbit for things like this, because even though he had been cleared for gate travel from the Pegasus galaxy, all he wanted after spending a week captive in an alien ship was to stay away from ships, planes, cars, and any other confined moving spaces.

He was sitting on the couch by the fireplace, with Jack by his side and a blanket he didn’t actually need, and would complain to Jack that he didn’t need all that, but when he tried to say he was fine (‘I didn’t even die, how bad could it have been?’), Jack didn’t take it too well; plus, it was good that they could finally spend some time together.

“When do you have to leave?” he asked, knowing without being told that Jack had already neglected too much of his work while trying to find him.

Jack frowned, like being reminded that he had to work was a bad memory. “I have a meeting Monday morning that I can’t escape from. I would ask you to come with, but…”

“You have already spent the past ten days raising too many suspicions?” Daniel supplied.

“Something like that. But think about it this way, soon this won’t matter. I’ll either retire or we’ll get DADT out of the way.”

Daniel snuggled closer to Jack. “Did you tell Sheppard that? Because I noticed how he was no more willing than you to leave the infirmary.”

“He actually follows the rules, can you believe that? But we had a coded talk and I think he realized what he was missing.”

“In any case, he needed less time than we did.”

It was different, of course, and they both knew it. Daniel had been married, and he loved Sha’re, still did, and he needed time to realize that that didn’t mean he could never love anyone else again. But they didn’t talk about that now, they didn’t need to. Instead, they just enjoyed the pleasure of each other’s company, allowing it to be the comfort needed after yet another trauma that would soon be packed away never to be thought of again, just to be replaced with a new one in a few weeks. It was the life they’d chosen to live, after all.


End file.
